Clothespin



W. E. BECKER March 8, 1949.

CLOTHESPIN Filed March 27, 1945 Patented Mar. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTHESPIN Walter E. Becker, San Antonio, Tex.

Application March 27, 1945, Serial No. 585,027

This invention relates to clothespins, and more particularly to a metal clothespin.

A main object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved metal clothespin of extremely simple construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a metal clothespin which is easy to apply and which provides dependable support for clothes hung therefrom while minimizing the risk of tearing or damaging said clothes.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description and claim, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an improved metal clothespin in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the clothespin of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the clothespin being applied to a clothesline.

Referring to the drawings the clothespin comprises a length of stiff wire of steel or similar material, bent to form a spring coil I, and formed with depending clamping arms 2 and 3, biased together by the spring pressure of coil l. Each clamping arm comprises a U-shaped body portion, one leg thereof being a continuation of spring coil I and the other leg thereof being bent to form a substantially closed curved end loop 4, whereby the tendency for the U-shaped body portion to catch on clothing during application or removal of the clothespin is minimized. The lower end of each U-shaped body portion is outwardly bent to provide a flared recess at the bottom of the clothespin to facilitate engagement of the clothespin with a clothesline 5, as shown in Figure 3.

Spring coil I is of appropriate size so that a number of clothespins may be held by a finger of the hand passed through the spring coil of each clothespin, or pins may be held on various fingers of the hand, thus allowing substantial freedom for the hands in removing clothes or in placing clothes on the clothesline.

The pins, when made of steel wire, may be galvanized to resist corrosion, thus providing indefinite use of the pins.

The pins may be locked to the clothesline by forcing them downwardly onto the line until end loops 4 are substantially below the bottom surface of the line. By then twisting the pin slightly with respect to the line, the line will be engaged with th top surfaces of the end loops 4 to thereby secure the pins firmly to the line. By reversing the process the pins may be disengaged from locked position.

End loops t terminate sufliciently below spring coil l to provide a space 8, as shown in Figure 2, for receiving the line in the locked position.

While a specific embodiment of a metal clothespin has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention other than as defined by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A wire loop clothespin, comprising a wire coil with a comparatively large open area in the center thereof, two complementary straight legs extending vertically downwardly from said coil, said legs having inner surfaces in abutting relation throughout their length in a plane extending through the center of said coil, each of said legs comprising two side wires joined together at their lower ends to provide U-shaped legs, diagonallyoppositely-disposed wires of said legs extending from and comprising continuations of opposite ends of said coil, whereby both wires of each leg are resiliently held against corresponding wires of the other leg by spring action of said coil, and the other wires of said legs having laterally-directed upper ends closing the upper ends of said legs in the region of said coil.

WALTER E. BECKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 260,297 Johnston June 27, 1882 1,260,969 Cramer Mar. 26, 1918 1,267,694 Ralston May 28, 1918 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 19,657 Great Britain 1896 23,526 Australia, 1929 Nov. 11, 1930 

